The Arrest That Should Never Have Happened
On his way back, squad cars surrounded him. Sirens screamed, and an officer barked orders. His “crime”? Exhaust pipes “too loud.” Pipes that had been inspected and approved just two weeks earlier.
Four police cars boxed him in. Officer Kowalski, young and arrogant, ordered Harold to the ground.
My husband—who suffers from arthritis and partial deafness from the war—was forced to his knees, then shoved flat on the burning asphalt. For twenty-three minutes, he stayed there. His beard scraped against the pavement, his hands cuffed behind him, while passing cars slowed down to point and whisper.
“Stay down, old man,” Kowalski sneered, loud enough for everyone to hear. “You bikers think you rule the road. Time to set you straight.”
